Hrithik has been in awe of the ‘Rocky’ star since they were first paired together in ‘Mission Kashmir’ also compliments Sanjay Dutt on his level of fitness. “He is so energetic. I remember while shooting for the climax scene, where I had to fight Kancha Cheena, it was I who would ask for short breaks. Then it would be Sanjay who would perk me up saying. ‘If at 50 I can do it, why can’t you?’

Rani who was last seen in ‘No One Killed Jessica’ will be essaying the role of a dancer in Anurag’s film. And while not much has been spoken about the story or the rest of the cast, here is an interesting bit that is fast making news. Rani will be performing a medley that pays tribute to three bollywood dancing queens.

Choreographed by Vaibhavi Merchant, the medley will have the actress donning the same costume and performing the same steps as the three actresses she is paying tribute to. Rani will be dancing on a mix of Madhuri Dixit’s hit number ‘Ek Do Teen’, Sridevi’s ‘Na Jaane Kahan Se Aayi Hai’ and Juhi Chawla’s ‘Tu Tu Tara’, onscreen.

Lovely Singh (Salman Khan, Dabangg, Ready) is the son of bodyguard Balwant Singh, who died whilst in the service of Sartaj Singh (Raj Babbar), the local justice choudhary. Sartaj Singh gives Lovely the assignment of rescuing some girls kidnapped to be sold in the flesh trade in Thailand by Mhatre brothers, Aditya Pancholi (Dum Maaro Dum), Mahesh Manjrekar (Wanted, Dabangg, Ready) and Chetan Hansraj.  Now fearing the Mhatre brothers, Sartaj appoints Lovely to safeguard his daughter Divya (Kareena Kapoor, We Are Family, Golmaal 3). Divya and her best friend, Maya (Hazel Keech) are pretty upset about the suited – booted bodyguard following them around. In order to get rid of him, (since they do not know the danger Divya is in) they play a prank on him, via a mysterious Chhaya, who claims to be in love with Lovely, while talking to him through a ‘private number’, whilst he performs his ‘duties’ towards Divya Madam. During the first attack on Divya, she realizes Lovely’s true intentions and falls in love with him, through her alter ego / fictitious character ‘Chhaya’). Now you have the pair in love, but not with still not in love, you get?

Realizing the fate of her doomed love story, Divya decides to ‘break up’ with Lovely, by calling him to a summer park, where Divya also decides to go along. After a ‘phone break up’ with Lovely standing on the bridge, broken hearted and Divya hiding behind the bushes.

At this point, the Mhatre brothers emerge again, kidnap Divya and leave a note with Sartaj Singh, all the time whilst Lovely is still waiting on the bridge. Sartaj confronts Lovely and reprimands him for failing in his duties. At this point, Maya tells Lovely the truth behind Chhaya / Divya. Lovely now realizes the truth and goes for the Mhatre brothers, for duty. He along with Sartaj, who is giving Lovely one chance to redeem himself, attack and in a high voltage action sequence kill Chetan but Manjrekar manages to attack Lovely, killing Sartaj in the bargain. Sartaj takes a dying promise from Lovely, to take care of Divya, whilst the Mhatre duo are on the run.

Now Lovely is out to seek and destroy, FOR LOVE! In yet another well orchestrated fight sequence by Vijayan, he tears the villains and rescues the girl and after the moralistic talk about duty before self and the value of promise to Sartaj, the couple live happily ever after, with their son being named after his grandfather, Sartaj!

This would have been an ideal story and a befitting Eid bonanza and an excellent hat trick for Salman. Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. This is ‘The Y Factor’s’ version of how the film should have panned out post interval. But unfortunately, the last 2 paras is not the way Siddique played it. He stuck to the original concept wherein the love story continues listlessly and after a CGI inflicted climax in an old fort, the film takes an unexpected turn (which I presume was supposed to be the highlight of the earlier versions) and ends in a very moronic fashion, reminding us of the blockbuster debut of a 1998 film by a director / producer known for making ‘larger than life, ‘family’ movies’ with a fondness towards a particular ‘Khan’.

Bodyguard suffers from exactly the 2 points I had feared, 1st being the law of averages catching up with Salman and 2nd being the luck of producer Atul Agnihotri. Every family member of Salman now has benefitted commercially from his success, but whenever poor Atul tries, he has always failed (Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha, Hello his directorial ventures).

Add to that, the chemistry between the lead couple is technically jinxed. Their earlier films (Kyon Ki, 2005; Main Aurr Mrs. Khanna, 2009). Also, although both of them look beautiful individually, together there is a certain amount of awkwardness on screen with them.

The lack of a strong supporting cast also fails the film. Unlike Dabangg and Ready, where there were Vinod Khanna, Dimple Kapadia, Arbaaz Khan, Paresh Rawal, Mahesh Manjrekar, Manoj Joshi, Manoj Pahwa, Akhilendra Mishra, Sharat Saxena to help, Bodyguard revolves around the couple only. Rajat Rawail as Tsunami Singh, is the supposed comic relief and Hazel as the best friend, a mere good looking sounding board. Besides Raj Babbar, who is personality personified in his role, there is an Asrani & Vidya Sinha lending whatever support they can to this flick.

Again, unlike Wanted and Dabangg, wherein Gani Bhai (Prakash Raju) and Chhedi Singh (Sonu Sood) were there to challenge Salman, here all the 3 villains are only an extended special appearance. Trying, uncomfortably, to mouth dialogues so that Salman can retort with ‘mujh pe ek ehsaan karna, ke mujh pe koi ehsaan na karna’…

Siddique fails where Prabhudeva scored with Wanted. Siddique does not adapt the original to the sensitivities of the Hindi speaking audience.

Salman is brilliant in the film, as always. Post interval, he does not resort to the zany silliness of Ready or Dabangg, but underplays his character to perfection, since this is basically a love story at heart.

With the Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi holidays, the lack of any good release since Singham and Salman’s euphoria, the film will get a resounding opening and it will definitely cover its costs. But this ain’t this year’s Dabangg, nor is it even Ready.

Sadly for a Salman fan, am thoroughly disappointed.

Rating: 4/10 (3 for Salman, 1 for Kareena)

But the expectations from ‘Brand Salman’ have risen?
Expectations are high because people have watched my last few films. But it’s true in other cases too. For example, you always expect a little more from your girlfriend and vice versa (smiles).

Your last two films with Kareena Kapoor, Kyun Ki! (2005) and Main Aur Mrs Khanna (2009) didn’t work. Will this one break the jinx?
In our film industry, certain people dismiss an on-screen pairing as panvati (jinxed) if their last few films haven’t worked at the box office. But I believe that if a heroine is perfectly suited for a particular role, why shouldn’t I get her? In Wanted, we cast Ayesha Takia in the lead because she fit the part. And the film was a superhit!

Is Katrina Kaif doing a cameo in Bodyguard or a special appearance in the title track?
I start out as her bodyguard so she appears in the title song, Aaya Re Aaya… to establish the fact. Later, of course, I become Kareena’s bodyguard.

Is Bodyguard a special film for you since your sister Alvira is co-producing it with husband Atul Agnihotri?
It doesn’t matter who is producing the film. A film is a film. People are going to spend money, from Rs 10 to Rs 400, to watch it. So, my responsibility is towards them. Once audiences like the film and they start coming in numbers, my responsibility towards the producer will be automatically fulfilled.

How is Dabangg 2 shaping up? Have you really written parts of the script?
Dabangg 2 is simply an extension of the first film. Chulbul Pandey is an interesting guy so I think we won’t have any problems with the character. In fact, we have finalized and locked the script of the sequel. I haven’t written anything in the script since it’s completely Arbaaz’s (Khan) film. Since Chulbul has shades of gray, it’s easily to meander into different genres — comedy, action and romance. Now that the character of Chulbul is established, we can easily take it to the next level.

We’ve heard that Chulbul is moving to a metro now?
Yes, Chulbul is moving to a bigger city. (Smiles) Now, there’s a lot more jhol in Dabangg 2.

Many feel you seem to be stuck on action films these days?
Nothing like that, every film has action, even Ready. For instance, you can’t call every film a musical just because it has 4-5 songs. In fact, I had to work harder on Ready because the action scenes had to make you laugh.
 
Have you lost weight for Ek Tha Tiger?
No, it’s just that I was training hard for the climax of Bodyguard and carried the lean look into Ek Tha Tiger.

You met Somy Ali recently in Bangkok while shooting for Ready?
Sure, I did. She flew down to Bangkok from Hong Kong because she had some work in Hong Kong. What’s the big deal?

Somy has said that Aishwarya Rai was responsible for your split?
(Smiles) Somy said it, so ask her. I don’t know anything.

The past decade has seen both the worlds change, the world of us Muggles and the magical world of Hogwarts.  Whilst the first film released a couple of months after 9/11, it is magical that ‘it all ends’ a couple of months after the killing of the evil mastermind behind that gruesome act, a decade ago.

Continuing exactly where HP7 stopped, where the final battle, which we all have been waiting for, is about to begin.

Voldermort has gained possession of the Elder Wand, Severus Snape is the Headmaster of a now gloomy Hogwarts and Harry is finally taking charge of things. Along with Ron & Hermaine, post the burial of Dobby, ‘the free Elf’ the chosen trio set about to collect the remaining Horcruxes housing the soul of Voldermort, which would eventually lead to the Evil Lord’s death.

In a race against time, wherein with the destruction of each Horcrux, not only does Voldermort grow weaker, but also more aware of Harry’s plan. So it all boils down to the final night where the Death Eaters wage war against the place where it all began, Hogwarts!

Brilliant cinematography by Eduardo Serra (The Wings of the Dove, HP7 ) along with Mark Dey’s water tight editing and Alexander Desplat’s haunting background score make this the BEST POTTER FILM TILL DATE!

The manner in which the screenplay has been adapted and woven by Steve Kloves, the man behind all but 1 Potter film, shows his grip over the subject, wherein he does not leave any loose ends open. Be it the rise of Neville Longbottom (Mathew Lewis, simply outstanding) or the revelation behind the grand plans of Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) or the secrets of the Elder Wand and Severus Snape (Alan Rickman).

It is nothing short of history wherein along with the rise and the rise of the story, the ageing of the actors has blended in so well. The main trio Harry (David Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermaine (Emma Watson) might never be able to outgrow their Potter characters but it is a job well done. The return of most of the stellar cast, Wand master Olivander (Tom Hurt), Prof. Horace Slughhorn (Jim Broadbent), Sybill Trelawny (Emma Thompson), Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), Remus Lupin (David Thewlis), Hagrid (David Coltrane), Lucius Malfoy (Jason Isaacs), the Weasleys makes this film so much more watchable, for the sheer love of seeing the cast.

Harry (Radcliffe) seems more mature and in control of things now. He is a man on a mission and he acts it. Hermaine (Watson) is classy as ever. Ron (Grint) transforms from a ‘sidekick’ to a decision maker and a protective boyfriend. Ralph Fiennes is first rate again as the power thirsty evil lord.

But the scene stealers are Helena Bonham Carter, whose act of impersonating Bellatrix Lestrange is fantastic. Her final fight with Molly Weasley (Julie Walters) is the scoring point for Walters, with her mouthing dialogues like “not my daughter, you bitch”. The character development of Neville Longbottom is the best. The entire crowd applauds at his act of bravado in the film! Longbottom is one of the characters whom you take home with you fondly after the movie. Likewise, Prof. Minerva McGonagall (Maggie Smith) strikes back with force.

But the film belongs to Alan Rickman. The manner in which Rowling has used his character to explain all the events of Harry’s life is pure ‘magic’. Snape’s love, anguish, hurt, anger and power is what takes the film to near perfection.

No mention of Potter films would be complete without commenting on the remarkable production values by designer Stuart Craig, who has devoted his life to Potter. Be it the whitewashed Kings’ Cross Station, the roller coaster ride in Gringotts, the hugely disorganized Room of Requirement or the Death Eater controlled Hogwarts.

Full marks to David Yates, helming his 4th Potter film, for giving such a befitting farewell to one of the most loved film series (franchisee is an insult) of our times. Rowling, take a bow for penning a fantastic saga of wizardry which will inspire many ‘me toos’ but will remain unmatched.

Rating: 9/10

YusuF Poonawala, is an independent writer, who authors The Y Factor . Explore his passion for movies with reviews and everything around them.

Prakash Jha was quite impressed with Big B going green and made it a practice for his team and productions. We surely need to learn from such role models for a better and secure future. Go Big B!

Sanjay, who is known for his passion for latest gadgets kept his Segway in his vanity van during the shoots. But during breaks, there was a dhamaal of a different kind on the sets as  actors and crew members would try to outdo each other, to get their hands on Segway first.

A unit source said, “The boys including Arshad, Riteish, Ashish and Jaaved were constantly arguing over who gets to ride the Segway first and this wasn’t only restrained to the cast.” Director Inder Kumar, too, was seen giving instructions on the sets moving around on the Segway!

“Within a few days, everyone seemed to have become a pro riding it. They liked it so much that they even included it in the film while shooting the comic caper!” the source elaborated.

Vidya re-unites with Nasseruddin Shah in The Dirty Picture after their crackling chemistry in the 2010 hit, Ishqiya. Adding to the film’s incredible star power are Tusshar and Emraan Hashmi who play the key romantic interests in Silk’s life. This is the first time that audiences will see Vidya’s pairings with them.
 
Vishal & Shekhar have composed the soundtrack for the keenly anticipated musical, which releases later this year.